What are the best tires for Indiana?

Locations in Indiana: 21
First Indiana location opening date: INW01 | October 1, 1979
Common vehicles: sedans, crossovers, SUVs and trucks with increasing EVs
Major regions/cities: Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Carmel, Fishers, Bloomington, Hammond, Lafayette and Noblesville
Road conditions: Four seasons with lots of rain, unpredictable winter seasons and littered with potholes, warmer and milder in the south with tons of rural roads and interstate traffic

From its Great Lakes, Indianapolis 500, basketball games, college campuses, fun sand dunes and over six million residents, driving in Indiana is nearly always an adventure.

The Hoosier State offers plenty of driving challenges, whether it be its midwestern climate, varied terrain (Do you like it flat or hilly? We have both) or influx of young drivers in-state for college and family transplants. Trying to figure out what tires will work best for you and your vehicle can be a challenge.

Luckily, the experts at Discount Tire have done all the footwork for you. We talked to our Indiana tire experts in our stores and put together a list of the best tires for Indiana. Check it out!

Would you rather just start shopping for yourself?

BEST CAR TIRES FOR INDIANA

As you might expect with Indiana’s true four season climate, the all-season tire is perhaps the most common type found on most cars.

Hoosiers definitely seem to prefer Michelin branded tires, and with tons of good choices, a large available stock and reputation: who can blame them?

Mike Ziner, manager of the Carmel Discount Tire store, says that you can’t go wrong with the Michelin Defender 2. With a robust 80,000-mile warranty, a long lasting and durable tread (via Michelin’s EverTread 2.0), and quiet, comfortable ride, it’s hard to beat. As for wet and dry handling, you’ll enjoy shorter wet and dry stopping distances than with previous models and it comes in a huge range of available fitments for a variety of vehicles (even larger rim sizes).

But there is a noticeably growing trend toward an emerging tire category, the all-weather tire. Think of all-weather tires as all-season tires on steroids. They offer increased performance in cooler weather with added traction and grip in inclement conditions (perfect for mild winter regions or lackluster winter seasonal weather).

(Go ahead and check out our blog on the best all-weather tires!)

According to our Fort Wayne Discount Tire store manager, Vedran Duras, warmer months typically get tons of rain and winters are unpredictable in how mild or intense they can be. With that in mind, his customers are flocking toward an all-weather staple, the Michelin CrossClimate2. Customers like the additional traction features of an all-weather tire and less worry about needing to switch to a winter set with milder winter conditions that seems to be on trend for Indiana lately.

But if the going gets rough, the CrossClimate2 is ready with its three-peak mountain snowflake severe weather designation, 60,000-mile warranty and V-formation tread design for confident wet weather grip. And for dry conditions, V-ramps on the tread block edges max out ground contact for superb dry stopping power on bone dry roads.

Many of Mike’s customers over in Carmel drive sporty, high-powered European vehicles from BMW, Mercedes and, increasingly, Teslas. For tires for these types of vehicles, he recommends the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4. This performance-based all-season tire comes in run-flat (in select sizes) and includes a 30 to 45,000-mile warranty, a blessing for a sporty tread.

It features a race-inspired silica-enhanced tread that helps your ride stick to slick surfaces while biting edges in the tread grooves grip onto loose snow for controlled starting and stopping in light winter conditions. Customers love the feel and responsiveness of these tires. It’s the original equipment pick for the mid-engine Chevy Corvette.

Fun fact: Carmel, Indiana is known as the roundabout capital of the US! The high number of roundabout intersections means that residents often experience excess wear on their front passenger tire, up to 2/32nds of an inch of additional wear, according to Mike. Make sure you keep your tires rotated appropriately to allow for as much even wear as possible.

You can also schedule a tire rotation service from us!

Looking for that happy medium of price and performance?

Down at our Evansville Discount Tire store, manager Chuck Woods recommends the Falken Pro G5 A/S for a tire with an approachable price point but with premium levels of performance. It comes with a 60k mileage warranty, confident traction in both summer and light winter conditions via its specialized tread compound and responsive steering. It’s suitable for a wide range of passenger vehicles like your Kia Optima, Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry and more. Good news: the Falken Pro G5 A/S CSV offers all the same benefits for your crossover vehicle, too. Customers love the Pro G5’s price point, forceful traction, and responsive handling. You can check out the glowing reviews!

On a strict budget? Chuck says you can maximize your savings without sacrificing performance with the Discount Tire exclusive Arizonian Silver Edition All Season. This tire is pretty popular with his Evansville customers. They like its dependable and affordable high-end performance. It carries a 60k mileage warranty and uses a Low Noise Tread Pattern to keep your in-cabin experience nice and quiet. Its shape and construction allows it to evenly distribute force for a comfortable, well-handled ride. Its wide center rib offers constant road contact to deliver precise steering, too.

Vedran over in Fort Wayne agrees with the Arizonian pick, but also points to the Mohave brand of tires as potential budget-friendly options. Also a Discount Tire exclusive brand, Mohave tires deliver approachable performance for all budgets. Check out the Mohave Touring A/S or the Mohave CUV for respectable grip, handling and ride experience.

BEST TRUCK TIRES FOR INDIANA

Indiana isn’t known for high pickup truck ownership, but depending on your location you may find yourself surrounded nearly exclusively by pickups for both work, recreation and personal use.

Truck owners in Indiana are split pretty well between highway-terrain type truck tires and all-terrain tires depending on their truck’s function.

In Evansville, Chuck’s truck and SUV customers need a highway-friendly tire like the Michelin Defender LTX M/S2 due to its high scores in tread life, all-season safety and ride comfort. It comes loaded with a 50-70,000-mile warranty and SipeLock Technology for water and light snow traction. It’s a great fit for your Chevy Silverado, Ford F-150, Toyota Tacoma and more. Also, it’s EV compatible. Chuck has these on his wife’s vehicle because safety is his number one concern; she loves the ride, too!

Do you need a truck tire with some all-terrain capability? Mike’s truck customers like the BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2.This is a solid all-terrain choice thanks to its severe weather capability (perfect for that temperamental Indiana weather), 50k-mileage warranty, tough carcass and Serrated Shoulder Design for maximum grip in mud, rocks and light snow (especially when aired down). Across the nation, it’s often the go-to tire for off-road applications, whether it’s for traversing gravel roads, bumping along agricultural alleys or making light of trails and campsites. Mike says that many of his truck customers love the look of the tread and that it’s a good mix of performance for outdoor recreation, work applications and on-road benefits.

Its successor, the KO3, was recently released to much delight for fans of the KO2. It offers the same 50k warranty with boosted construction, even more aggressive tread and extended temperature utility.

Want another option? Mike’s truck customers who ride on 35s and larger love the Nitto Ridge Grappler. This Nitto delivers a hybrid design with confident on-road handling and impressive all-terrain capability. The reinforced block stabilization makes on-road handling a breeze. Stone ejectors and rugged, staggered shoulder lugs deliver grip and protection in both soft and challenging off-road surfaces like rocks, dirt and sand. Truck owners also love the impressive tread pattern, a hallmark of Nitto’s tire designs.

Vedran has several options for those looking for budget truck tires for Hoosiers. For an all-terrain option, you can’t go wrong with the Pathfinder AT. This exclusive tire includes a 50-55k mileage warranty and utilizes that perfect mixture of all-terrain, weather and durability features that make it a solid choice. Rain, shine, dirt, gravel and even light winter conditions are all in the Pathfinder AT’s wheelhouse. For the truck that doesn’t leave the pavement, the affordable but highly competent Pathfinder HT is the answer. With a 45-60k mileage warranty and confident all-season drivability, customers find that it handles very well, performs like a higher-tier tire and is an excellent value.

Chuck in our Evansville store finds that the Pathfinder AT or HT are perfectly economical options that don’t sacrifice safety or quality. His customers have started to discover this Discount Tire exclusive option when comparing the all-terrain model to the Cooper Discoverer ATP II, the previous leader in middle-of-the-road options for his store.The ATP II is a little more rugged and off-road capable (and therefore a little more expensive) than the Pathfinder AT, but both deliver confident traction both on and off-road and a 60,000-mile warranty. The ATP II includes stone ejectors and a quiet tread pattern design too. If you’re already a fan of Cooper tires, then the ATP II might be your preference.

Vedran’s Fort Wayne customers also turn to Rocky Mountain branded tires for their pickups as they offer a good blend of value, performance and safety. Check out the Rocky Mountain HT for your pavement pusher or the Rocky Mountain All Terrain for on and off-road handling on your terms!

The HT includes a 50,000-mile warranty and is suitable for your daily driver, commuting or even towing heavy loads. It boasts excellent wet weather grip and low rolling resistance for better efficiency.

The AT has a 45-50,000-mile warranty, is three-peak mountain snowflake rated (for severe weather) and has a five rib lug design for greater surface contact (meaning better traction). Avoid getting stuck with its sidewall cleats and feel free to admire its self-cleaning tread with wide shoulder channels to remove mud and snow for constant traction.

DO I NEED SNOW TIRES IN INDIANA?

Indiana is part of the Midwestern region which experiences true winter conditions with ice, snow, slush and low temperatures. This is especially true due to the lake effects in the north where more intense freezing and snow may occur. Southern Indiana has milder winter conditions but can still experience ice and snow.

Many Hoosiers prefer to try to make due with all-season tires during the winter, to avoid the extra cost of a set of winter tires and installing them. However, all-season tires do not perform as well as winter tires in low temperatures. All-season tires do not brake as well as winter tires in winter conditions.

We’re also sorry to burst our all-terrain customers’ bubble, but all-terrain (and even mud-terrain) tires don’t compare with dedicated winter tires, either. We also talk about what the best wheel drive is in snow elsewhere but spoiler alert: 4WD doesn’t mean all four wheels will stop!

Up in Fort Wayne, many of Vedran’s customers prefer to use an all-weather tire to roll through unusually mild winters as they feature boosted temperature resistance compared to regular all-seasons. However, in true winter conditions, we do not recommend relying on a non-winter tire.

But don’t worry: we make switching between your winter and regular tire set easy with our winter/snow tire changeover service! Some of our locations even offer winter tire storage.

THE BEST WINTER TIRES FOR INDIANA

We’ve compiled a list of the best winter tires here.

But if you’re looking for Indiana-specific tire recommendations, Vedran from Fort Wayne says you can’t go wrong with any model from the Bridgestone Blizzak or Nokian Hakkapeliitta line of tires. These tires are consistently the highest rated, both in testing and by customer review, winter tires available on the market.

For your car in Indiana, Vedran’s customers definitely prefer Bridgestone branded tires. They come in a huge variety of sizes and are usually easily available. The Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 is the way to go with superb snow and ice traction, amazing levels of winter grip and a large contact area. It offers performance-based tread features too with confident stopping power and tread wear resistance to help it last season after season.

Got a crossover, pickup or SUV? Mike’s store has tons of large SUV customers who’ll do well to consider the Bridgestone Blizzak DMV2. It offers advanced braking in snow, slippery slush or wet conditions commonly found in winter time. Bite particles in the tread help grab onto difficult surfaces, even sheer ice.

The Nokian brand of tires is notorious for its severe winter line of tires which were designed and tested for the most difficult winter driving conditions imaginable. If you’re looking for something robust and top-of-the-game, the Hakkapeliitta 10 is an eco-friendly studded tire with fuel efficiency, prime handling, traction and braking in its corner. Got an SUV or truck? It comes in an SUV option!

Mike’s Carmel customers tend to order fewer winter tires lately due to a string of mild winters. However, they do frequently like to choose the Michelin X-Ice Snow thanks to its awesome levels of winter traction, phenomenal handling and its 40k-mileage warranty. Typically, winter tires do not include a mileage warranty so this is the cherry on top!

Another Michelin winter option is the Pilot Alpin PA4. It also includes a mileage warranty (30,000 miles!) with some sizes coming in run-flat options. The Alpin PA4 uses a dense groove pattern (including sweeping, lateral and longitudinal grooves) to repel water and slush for confident traction, regardless if your drivetrain is rear or all-wheel.

For your high-powered sedan or coupe, the Pirelli P Zero Winter is a great favorite for winter tires in Indiana. Ideal for both wet and dry winter conditions, transversal and crossed grooves with zig-zag elements offer high degrees of snow and wet traction and braking. You’ll find it to be a well-balanced tire with high stiffness and tread stability, perfect for dry performance.

ARE STUDDED TIRES AND TIRE CHAINS LEGAL IN INDIANA?

Studded tires are legal in Indiana between October 1 through May 1. Tire chains are legal when required for safety reasons.

Typically, Indiana residents don’t bother with either studded tires or tire chains. Tire chains require slow speeds and installation. You may only ever need them when heading out of state toward more mountainous areas.

Studded tires can be noisier than non-studded tires and usually a good set of winter tires is more than appropriate for Indiana winters. If you’re traveling out of state to a heavier wintry area (such as the Appalachian mountains), studded tires or chains might make sense. Feel free to consult with a Discount Tire expert for their opinion.

Other Indiana Wheel & Tire Services

With so many options, it can be difficult to narrow things down. We get it. We recommend trying Treadwell, our smart tire buying guide that matches you and your vehicle with the best tires for how and where you drive. Personalized tire recommendations take a minute or less!

Did you also know that Discount Tire offers wheel repair services? We also have the largest aftermarket wheel inventory at the lowest prices anywhere. Ready for a style upgrade? We can help you find a new set of rims!

And if your wheels need repair, many of our Discount Tire stores offer wheel repair services! Plus, we have the largest aftermarket wheel inventory at the lowest prices. If your ride is ready for a style upgrade, we can help you out with new rims!

It’s always a good idea to check your windshield wiper blades before you hit the road. We recommend changing wiper blades every 12 months. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered there too. We stock a full supply of high-quality and well-priced windshield wipers. Plus, we'll install your new blades for free during your wheel or tire service!

Check out our pick of the best winter wiper blades, too!

Ready to roll with the best tires for Indiana?

Mike Ziner from our Carmel, Indiana Discount Tire store has a parting message for our customers:

“I’d like to thank our previous customers and welcome new ones. I want to let them know that we’ll always give you the best price possible, and with our 30 day guarantee and other services, we’re ready to get you taken care of.”

We’re happy to answer any questions you have! Just give us a ring, drop by or make an appointment online. Customers who buy their products online and book an appointment ahead of time wait less time in-store!

For more information on this and other tire and wheel services, check out our YouTube Channel or reach out to us on X, Facebook and Instagram.